The Kurt Vonnegut Quote That Keeps Me Writing
The man knew his way around an aphorism.
Writers love quotes. We wouldn’t write if we didn’t. We also love to get down on ourselves, think we don’t have it in us, wonder if we’re wasting our time. The thing that keeps me writing is knowing that the greats all had their share of doubts, rejections, and misgivings. The difference is that they didn’t give up and put one word in front of another until the job was done.
I’m only two-three years into writing my first novel and I can see the shore in the distance, but there’s still a ways to go. When I feel doubt gnawing at me, I remember that Kurt Vonnegut took 20 years to write Slaughterhouse-Five. He had plenty of questions.
“When I write, I feel like an armless, legless man with a crayon in his mouth.” —for those who can’t read my scrawl.
This quote hit me when I read it in Pity the Reader. If a writer as skilled as Vonnegut felt as I do, I’m probably heading in the right direction. I also remember that George RR Martin is a notorious procrastinator, Stephen King was an addict, Salman Rushdie took 12 years (I believe, from memory) to get published after completing his first novel. The greats aren’t perfect, they just had their obstacles, failings, and demons, and finished the work anyway.
If you want to be a professional writer you need to accept that it’s a war of attrition rather than a routing charge. If you love the craft, that’s acceptable.
Here’s another one for luck. The man remains endlessly quotable.
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